


a hard thing to admit

by SmoshArrowverseFan



Series: Smosh Superhero Au [2]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, part of my half power rangers au half every superhero au on fanfiction dot net au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 04:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15655470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoshArrowverseFan/pseuds/SmoshArrowverseFan
Summary: Courtney doesn't want to be friends with losers just because they have superpowers and she does too. (No, she wants to be friends with them because they're honestly kind of cool.)She doesn't want to be friends with them at all. (But she does.)She can't. (She can't.)But maybe she can.





	a hard thing to admit

**Author's Note:**

> hi! more of my au! already posted this then deleted it after like 20 seconds lmao for Reasons. anyway enjoyy

"Okay, Courtney, I think you need to work a little more on balance," Ian said. The blonde glared at him, although it wasn't as intimidating as it would be if she hadn't just fallen to the ground.

"I don't understand, I could do it fine last night!" Courtney groaned.

"Well, last night your flight kicked in in a sort of fight or flight response... fight and flight, in your case? Okay, doesn't matter. What it did in the long run was help you figure out how to fly, but not how to be skilled at it," Ian said.

"I... okay. Sure," Courtney said. She wanted to argue, but Ian was making sense. She got back on her feet and attempted to stay in the air for thirty seconds.

She watched as Shayne did some sort of... juggling routine with fireballs as Damien watched. Damien was laughing at something Shayne had said. They really did click fast, Courtney noted. She wondered why they hadn't talked sooner. Probably high school social hierarchy or whatever. Even at the top, Courtney could admit it was kind of dumb how pretty much every high school operated similarly. But that wasn't really her problem. Even if she wanted to talk to people who weren't "on her level", it wasn't her problem. She was at the top, she basically had to be happy.

Her eyes drifted to Olivia, who was lifting both Keith and Noah with one arm. It was honestly kind of... funny? Adorable? Courtney shook her head. She wasn't getting attached to these people. She might have to talk to them now, but once they got back to school, it was going to go back to normal, and she wouldn't even acknowledge them in the hallway. Well, maybe she'd nod to Shayne, but that was it.

Deep in thought, Courtney didn't realize that she was slowly drifting upward until she was a good bit off the ground. She immediately panicked and fell yet again. Ian walked over to make sure she was okay.

"That was good, Courtney, right until the end. You stayed up for over a minute. You get distracted or something?" He asked. Courtney shrugged.

"I was just thinking, I guess."

"Well, it helps you stay calm, so that's good. I'm assuming you weren't thinking so much about every little thing you were doing, either. Maybe you don't have to focus so much on what you're doing, just... make sure you're where you want to be. Don't think about how you got there. Make sense?" Ian asked. Courtney frowned.

"I... kind of?"

"Sorry, I was kind of thinking out loud there. My guess is, thinking about flying or whatever every second you're up there makes you jerky, and less stable. Not thinking about it at all leads to drifting, like you just did, and we don't want you so distracted you fly away or something. Just make sure you're not moving from where you want to be and you should be fine. And if you do drift, don't panic. You can fly, remember? Just float back down," Ian explained. Courtney nodded slowly. Ian was actually really helpful. He was a good guy, behind the rich asshole public persona he projected.

"Alright. Makes sense now, thanks," She said. Ian smiled.

"Of course. I'm gonna go help out Shayne and Damien now, but you call me over if you need me, okay?"

"Okay."

Courtney watched as Ian made his way to the two boys, adjusting their stances and telling them something. The two listened intently. Of course they were Ian Hecox fanboys. Courtney liked the guy well enough, but she hadn't liked him before and she wasn't... drooling over him now. She rolled her eyes and decided to try Ian's advice. She hovered a few feet in the air and continued to watch Ian instruct Damien and Shayne.

Shayne was experimenting with his smoke powers now. Courtney watched as his arm turned into smoke, stayed like that for a moment, and then solidified back into an arm. Okay, that was kind of impressive. Could she do that with... light? She'd try when she was done flying. Damien did something similar, although it was more like lighting formed around his arm, rather than the lightning actually being his arm. He thrust his arm forward and the lightning flew forward and hit the charred piece of wall. That was pretty cool too. Could she do that?

Courtney floated back down gracefully, wanting to test out her light powers now. She remembered how she'd summoned the light the night before, and sure enough, she felt the light forming in her hands. It was an interesting feeling. It was... refreshing. Energizing. It made her feel alive and awake. She really liked the feeling. She had messed around in her room the night before, pulling the light from her bedside lamp and holding it in her hands, then pushing it back into the lamp. She'd gotten pretty good at it too. She was much more comfortable with the light than with flight.

She tossed the ball of light back and forth in her hands a couple of times, debating what to try next. Maybe she'd try something similar to what Shayne had done? That had looked really cool. But how did he do it? Courtney wasn't about to go over and ask, so she'd just have to figure it out herself. Maybe she'd start smaller than an arm. Yeah, she'd start with just her hand. She focused on her hand, and how it felt... like a hand. Courtney tried to channel the light into her hand. Nothing happened for a moment, but then her hand began to glow intensely. Okay, not what she was going for, but still cool.

Courtney wasn't sure what to do with her now-glowing hand. What was something that would look better than... whatever Shayne and Damien were doing now? She wasn't sure why, but she felt the need to one-up the two. Speaking of two... she could combine her powers for something really impressive. Suddenly, Courtney had an idea.

Hand still glowing, Courtney launched herself into the air, pausing for a moment a few feet up. She felt everyone's eyes on her. Good. She smirked and launched herself at the ground fist-first, discharging the light just as it reached the ground, and then floating her legs down into a kneeling position. Her fist had actually touched down really lightly, but the light that had shock-waved out of it had disguised that and made it look a lot cooler.

She stopped the light before it reached anyone, drawing it back into her hand. Ian smiled at her.

"Nice job, Courtney! Very creative idea, combining your powers. I can see you've got the hang of both of them," He said. Courtney smiled smugly.

"Thanks."

She spent the next half hour messing around with light and occasionally hovering in the air and watching Noah run laps around the gym, or Keith grow vines on the walls. Once, she attempted to do a loop in the air, but that was kind of trippy, so she didn't try that again. Maybe another time. Then, Ian told them to wait out in the lobby for Lasercorn to pick them up and drive them home. Damien pulled Olivia aside to talk to her in the hallway, so it was just Shayne, Noah, and Keith sitting with Courtney on the couches. Shayne realized that the table in between the two couches was also a mini-fridge, and had pulled out a coke.

"Nothing like a good coke after turning your arm into smoke, right?" He sighed, kicking his feet up onto the table.

"C'mon, dude, get your feet off of the table," Keith said.

"Ian wouldn't mind."

"It's bad manners, though," Keith said.

"Not if the host doesn't mind."

"It's still bad manners."

"It's not."

"Guys, stop bickering," Noah groaned.

"It's not my fault Keith's being stuck up," Shayne said.

"Shayne's being disrespectful!" Keith argued.

"Doesn't matter. Just stop, you're both being stubborn," Noah said.

"Whatever," Shayne said, reluctantly swinging his feet off of the table and crossing his arms, before uncrossing them so he could take a sip of his coke. Courtney rolled her eyes. These guys were weird. Honestly, most guys she'd met were weird like that. All dumb and ready to prove how manly they were at a moment's notice.

Damien and Olivia walked into the room smiling at each other. What had happened in the hallway? Courtney's stomach twisted in a way she didn't understand, but definitely didn't like. Was it jealousy? No... why would she be jealous? Was she jealous of Olivia? Did she... like Damien? He was hot, Courtney noted, looking at his frame. And he did have a pretty face. But that didn't seem right. She shook off the feeling. It was probably a weird fluke, maybe she was feeling off from all the flying she had done earlier.

"So, guys. After this you want to get food or something?" Damien asked as he took a seat next to Shayne. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"What?" Noah asked.

"I mean, I'm kinda hungry, I figured you guys might be too... thought we could grab something to eat," Damien shrugged.

"I'm sorry, but why would I want to get food with you?" Courtney asked. She couldn't believe him. He was acting like the fact that they all had superpowers or whatever meant they were close or something.

"I guess... I just thought maybe we were friends now. I mean, if you all don't want to come that's fine, I'll just get something by myself, but..." Damien trailed off.

"I want to come," Shayne said. Damien brightened up.

"Really?"

"Yeah dude."

"I'm down too," Noah shrugged.

"I am pretty hungry, so..." Keith said. Olivia smiled at Damien warmly, and Courtney suddenly felt sick. What the fuck was wrong with her?

"I'll go too," Olivia said. Damien looked to Courtney.

"So... what do you say?"

Courtney considered it. She did kind of want to say yes... no. No, she couldn't say yes. She didn't want to be friends with these people. If she was caught out with them she'd lose everything she'd built for herself. They were lame anyway, it'd probably be super boring.

"I'm good, thanks," She said. She ignored the fact that saying that felt like a stab in the chest. She couldn't want to be friends with these people, even if they were kind of funny and way nicer than most of her "friends" at school. She didn't need friends, she needed respect. She needed people to look at her in the hallway and step out of her way. She needed power, and not the flying, holding light in your hands kind, the power where people do what you want them to. Or at least, that's what she told herself.

"Oh, alright. Well... maybe another time," Damien said. He sounded disappointed, but it was clearly fake. She'd done nothing but antagonize everyone in the room. None of them actually wanted her around.

Lasercorn walked in a few minutes later to drive them back. Shayne began to tell him about the cool things he'd been able to do with his powers, with the others interjecting every so often. Courtney stayed silent. They piled into the car, Shayne again taking shotgun. Jesus, he was talking the poor guy's ear off. Shayne told Lasercorn about the plans to eat out, and Lasercorn offered to drop them off at the diner. Shayne consulted the rest of the car, and they gladly took Lasercorn up on his offer. Courtney gazed out of her window. Lasercorn had been right, the cars did look kind of like ants from up here.

Soon, they were at the diner and everyone piled out of the car. Lasercorn glanced back at her.

"Not eating with the rest of them?" He asked.

"No."

"You want to take shotgun?"

"Sure," Courtney said, climbing out of the back seat and into shotgun.

"Why aren't you eating with them?" Lasercorn asked as he began the drive to Courtney's house.

"I mean, we're not friends or anything. I don't see why I should hang out with them," She shrugged. Lasercorn glanced at her.

"They could be."

"Could be what?"

"Your friends. They're good kids," Lasercorn said.

"Sure, but... I don't know. I can't be friends with them," Courtney frowned.

"Why not?"

"I mean... if someone from school saw me hanging out with them, I'd lose everything. All my influence over the student body, the whole reputation I've built for myself... that'd all be gone. I've worked for that, you know? I don't even know how much of it's me anymore. And... I also don't know why I'm telling you this," Courtney said. She felt awkward for basically spilling her guts to this random guy.

"You're talking to me because you needed to talk to someone, and I was here."

"I guess so. But it's not like telling you is gonna help."

"Believe it or not, I was pretty popular freshman year of high school," Lasercorn said. Courtney frowned.

"Only freshman year?"

"And a little bit of sophomore year. I was on the football team, and so were all the guys I hung out with."

"What happened?" Courtney asked.

"Well, a bit into sophomore year, I was partnered up with this guy for a project. Total geek, definitely not someone I'd normally hang out with. Thing is, we just... clicked. Our senses of humor were so compatible. It freaked me out, because I really wanted to keep hanging out with this guy after the project was over, but I knew my teammates wouldn't have it. I thought about it... way more than I should have. And eventually I decided, 'Fuck it, I like talking to this guy more than my teammates, and more than the feeling of social power.', and I bit the bullet and sat with him at lunch. Bold move, I know."

"What happened next?"

"Well, my teammates weren't too happy. I was, though. I ended up quitting football. I never really liked it that much anyway. The guy had some really cool friends who I became friends with as well, and I enjoyed the next few years of high school as a loser more than I enjoyed being popular. It was a tradeoff, but it was definitely worth it," Lasercorn said. Courtney frowned. Would it be worth it for her?

"How worth it?" She asked.

"Well, I almost got superpowers out of it," Lasercorn smiled. Courtney's eyes widened.

"Wait, Ian-"

"Was one of the friends. The first guy was Joven, actually."

"Wow."

"Yeah. And the thing is, I'm totally not disappointed about the powers things. It may be totally gross and cliche to say, and you definitely can't tell anyone I said this, but having friends like them? It's worth it."

"Oh."

"What are you thinking?" Lasercorn asked.

"I'm thinking... maybe next time they ask me to hang out... if they ever do... I might say yes," Courtney said.

"And I'm thinking that that might be a good idea," Lasercorn said.

"And also... I'm sorry I made fun of your name the first time I heard it. You're actually really cool."

"Wait, you made fun of my name?"

"Um... yes?"

"Eh, it's fine. Happens all the time. It is a pretty weird name," Lasercorn shrugged.

"Why're you called Lasercorn anyway?"

"I have a tattoo of a unicorn shooting a laser out of a rocket launcher on its back. Joven started calling me Lasercorn in high school and it kind of stuck," Lasercorn said.

"Oh, cool," Courtney said. Lasercorn nodded.

"Yep. Well, this is your stop. And if you ever need to talk again... you know where to find me."

"I don't, actually. But I can probably just ask Ian, right?" Courtney asked. Lasercorn frowned.

"Actually, can I give you my number for emergencies?" He asked. Courtney thought for a moment. She trusted Lasercorn, and it was probably a good idea to have an adult who knew about her powers in her contacts in case anything went wrong involving said powers. And she definitely didn't want Ian's number in her phone. She nodded and handed Lasercorn her phone. He quickly typed in his information, and then handed the phone back to her. She was about to walk back to her house when he stopped her again.

"Whoa, wait."

"What?" Courtney asked, honestly not sure what he could want.

"You need to take a picture for my contact!" He smiled.

"Oh, yeah," Courtney laughed. She quickly took a picture of Lasercorn posing in the car and set it as his profile picture.

"Well, I'll see you, Courtney," Lasercorn said.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help."

"Of course. Have a good one!"

"You too," Courtney said, but he had already driven off. She sighed. She'd told Lasercorn she'd hang out with Damien and the others, but was she really prepared to sacrifice her reputation for them? Courtney reminded herself that she didn't have to make a decision yet. She'd sleep on it.

**Author's Note:**

> hope that was alright! anyway, more to come, already got the convo between dames and liv liv typed up, so that should be next, and then i've got a little somethin else planned, sooooo yea
> 
> have a good one yall!


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